BUMMER: my sad, sorry experience with jibri
friends, romans, fatties, i've fallen off the face of the earth. my last post must have been at least two years ago. but i was inspired to write again because of this brave person and her story of etsy shop heartbreak. recently, i've had a miserable experience with a plus-size etsy seller. friends, this whole kerfuffle went down between september and december of 2011, and i'm only talking about it now because i read the entry above and thought "hells yeah, i want to know if a seller whose designs i lust and save for is going to flake on me."
and still, i'm hesitating. there's so few small business owners that make beautiful, ethically-made designs for fatties, and i don't want to screw anyone over. so read on, if it pleases you, and remember that your jibri-mileage may vary.
in september this year i saw this dress in jibri online's etsy shop:
AND I WANTED IT. at $240, it would be a huge purchase . . . BUT JUST LOOK AT IT IS IT NOT GORGEOUS? the draping, the sassy neckline, the elegant shape of the skirt! a dress like this could fit in my wardrobe and be dressed up for parties and dressed down for work, especially in black.
i had a few lovely convos with jasmine (the seller) about measurements and fabrics and whatnot, and settled down to wait. the dress' description said that all custom orders would be sent out after three to four weeks.
i waited.
and waited.
mid november (six weeks out) i started to get worried and sent jasmine a convo, especially since i was hoping to wear the dress for some xmas parties. she apologized for the delay and said that she'd shipped the dress the same day and directed me towards the USPS email shipping notice. trouble was, the shipping notice said only that the delivery slip had been printed, not that the package had been shipped or even arrived at the post office. it was ten days before the status read, "package received at post office." and by then, i knew it would be too late for xmas parties. but whatever, right? people get busy, the dress was something i hoped to wear for a long, long, time, there'd be other occasions, and why did i have to be such a precious little princess anyway?
the dress arrived december 7. yay! i put it on the second i got home from the gym and . . . was perplexed.
i mean . . . what? did i accidentally ask for this weird, flappy, triangular skirt?
i do realize jibri's designs are sharp, modern, bold - but dammit, it's not what i wanted, and more to the point, not what i expected from the photo. maybe i'm too timid; i can accept that. i wanted an LBD and i got some high-concept thing that really looks silly on me, and absolutely ridiculous with the flats and cardis i'd planned to wear with it at work.
so i emailed jasmine, and two weeks (!) later she responds that i can send the dress back. i'm reluctant, thought, to rid myself of the fantasy of the perfect dress - and it does look nice on top - so i suggest a compromise - i get the dress tailored to lose the exaggerated hip flaps and she can refund me the cost of alterations over paypal. easy, right? except once i finally find a tailor willing to take on the job (in involved deconstructing the bottom half of the dress), jasmine stops responding to emails. i beg. i plead. i adopt a stern tone. i even sink to the low of following her on twitter and asking her to please contact me about our "previously discussed arrangement" (i hated the idea of airing dirty laundry over twitter but i was desperate).
finally, on february 2nd, jasmine convo-ed me via etsy to say that she would process the partial refund but i'd have to wait one billing cycle. NO PROBLEM. i've waited this long! as of today, i've received nothing.
if you've read this far, thank you for letting me rant. to be honest, i feel like an enormous catty hosebeast for bringing this up, but i waited so long for the issue to be resolved that my chance to leave feedback on etsy expired and i just feel that this kinda thing needs to be said SOMEWHERE. i know that many fab fatties have ordered from jibri and haven't had this experience. i myself have a wrap dress from a sample sale that is awesome. but i won't be ordering again. and that is a fucking BUMMER.
i appreciate your thoughts and advice, fats.
and still, i'm hesitating. there's so few small business owners that make beautiful, ethically-made designs for fatties, and i don't want to screw anyone over. so read on, if it pleases you, and remember that your jibri-mileage may vary.
in september this year i saw this dress in jibri online's etsy shop:
AND I WANTED IT. at $240, it would be a huge purchase . . . BUT JUST LOOK AT IT IS IT NOT GORGEOUS? the draping, the sassy neckline, the elegant shape of the skirt! a dress like this could fit in my wardrobe and be dressed up for parties and dressed down for work, especially in black.
i had a few lovely convos with jasmine (the seller) about measurements and fabrics and whatnot, and settled down to wait. the dress' description said that all custom orders would be sent out after three to four weeks.
i waited.
and waited.
mid november (six weeks out) i started to get worried and sent jasmine a convo, especially since i was hoping to wear the dress for some xmas parties. she apologized for the delay and said that she'd shipped the dress the same day and directed me towards the USPS email shipping notice. trouble was, the shipping notice said only that the delivery slip had been printed, not that the package had been shipped or even arrived at the post office. it was ten days before the status read, "package received at post office." and by then, i knew it would be too late for xmas parties. but whatever, right? people get busy, the dress was something i hoped to wear for a long, long, time, there'd be other occasions, and why did i have to be such a precious little princess anyway?
the dress arrived december 7. yay! i put it on the second i got home from the gym and . . . was perplexed.
i mean . . . what? did i accidentally ask for this weird, flappy, triangular skirt?
i do realize jibri's designs are sharp, modern, bold - but dammit, it's not what i wanted, and more to the point, not what i expected from the photo. maybe i'm too timid; i can accept that. i wanted an LBD and i got some high-concept thing that really looks silly on me, and absolutely ridiculous with the flats and cardis i'd planned to wear with it at work.
so i emailed jasmine, and two weeks (!) later she responds that i can send the dress back. i'm reluctant, thought, to rid myself of the fantasy of the perfect dress - and it does look nice on top - so i suggest a compromise - i get the dress tailored to lose the exaggerated hip flaps and she can refund me the cost of alterations over paypal. easy, right? except once i finally find a tailor willing to take on the job (in involved deconstructing the bottom half of the dress), jasmine stops responding to emails. i beg. i plead. i adopt a stern tone. i even sink to the low of following her on twitter and asking her to please contact me about our "previously discussed arrangement" (i hated the idea of airing dirty laundry over twitter but i was desperate).
finally, on february 2nd, jasmine convo-ed me via etsy to say that she would process the partial refund but i'd have to wait one billing cycle. NO PROBLEM. i've waited this long! as of today, i've received nothing.
if you've read this far, thank you for letting me rant. to be honest, i feel like an enormous catty hosebeast for bringing this up, but i waited so long for the issue to be resolved that my chance to leave feedback on etsy expired and i just feel that this kinda thing needs to be said SOMEWHERE. i know that many fab fatties have ordered from jibri and haven't had this experience. i myself have a wrap dress from a sample sale that is awesome. but i won't be ordering again. and that is a fucking BUMMER.
i appreciate your thoughts and advice, fats.